The following description relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to providing a shared eNodeB for wireless communication with a plurality of operator networks over one or more unlicensed frequency bands.
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcasts. Typical wireless communication systems may employ multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access technologies include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency divisional multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems.
These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate on a municipal, national, regional, and even global level. An example of an emerging telecommunication standard is Long Term Evolution (LTE). LTE is a set of enhancements to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile standard promulgated by Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). It is designed to better support mobile broadband Internet access by improving spectral efficiency, lower costs, improve services, make use of new spectrum, and better integrate with other open standards using OFDMA on the downlink (DL), SC-FDMA on the uplink (UL), and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology. However, as the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, there exists a need for further improvements in LTE technology. Preferably, these improvements should be applicable to other multi-access technologies and the telecommunication standards that employ these technologies.
For example, currently, there is a lack of universal or common spectrum for small cells in public locations (e.g., coffee shops, stadiums, etc.). Today this neutral host model is typically solved by WiFi and/or legacy Distributed Antenna System (DAS) models for Third Generation (3G) or Fourth Generation (4G) wireless networks. Small cell growth requires the use of common equipment for users of multiple service providers or even common or shared spectrum. Other alternatives previously utilized include multi-standard compatible systems where WiFi and multiple-access licensed frequency band systems associated with particular service providers are aggregated. These solutions, however, are expensive and require independent core infrastructure to support the baseband operations and separate radios for each licensed spectrum owner or service provider.